All posts tagged Forsa Institute

You would think German Chancellor Angela Merkel has enough to worry about. Opposition from within her center-right coalition against ever bigger euro zone bailouts is stiffening, and infighting between her Christian Democrats and her Free Democrat allies is constant.

But now a new political force is ready to enter Germany’s political scene by storm: the Pirate Party.

A poll by the Forsa institute published Wednesday showed the Pirates would gain 7 percent if elections were held now. The party has already entered the parliament of the state of Berlin after a stunning 8.9% showing earlier this month.

Worse for Ms. Merkel, the survey also shows that more voters seem to directly shift from the government coalition parties than from the opposition Social Democrats and Greens. New general elections are still two years away. But Ms. Merkel is already facing an uphill struggle against the Social Democrats and Greens who jointly lead opinion polls for months. Getting the government camp eroded by another unwanted competitor is giving the Chancellor an additional headache.